Part-time sales director for UK accountancy practices
Advice is free now. Results aren't.
I help owner-run accountancy practices stand out, win better clients and get paid well for the results they deliver. Book a call, and we'll start with a plan.
Your part-time sales director, powered by AI. A real person, with AI working quietly behind the scenes.
A friendly 30-minute video call. No hard sell. Practice Check link to come
What you want
You want a practice that thrives
You built your practice on good work and loyal clients. Now you want more than a full in-tray.
You want a profitable practice that stands out from the firm down the road. One that wins the clients you'd choose, does work you're proud of, and keeps growing. A practice your best clients would never dream of leaving.
The problem
Three forces are eating the profit in compliance work
AI
AI does more routine compliance work every month, and hands out advice for free in seconds. Your clients know it, and they expect to pay less.
Making Tax Digital
Making Tax Digital is adding quarterly reporting. From April 2027 it reaches sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £30,000, and over £20,000 from April 2028.
The succession wave
A generation of business owners, including many of your clients and perhaps you, heads for the exit. More clients will sell, pass on or simply close.
More work. Lower fees. Fewer clients who outlast their founder.
It's frustrating. You're working as hard as ever, yet the fee keeps slipping, and it's hard to tell prospects why you're different when every firm says "friendly, proactive, cloud". It can leave you feeling "me too".
And it isn't fair. Good practices shouldn't be left behind by forces they didn't create.
These changes will happen anyway. You can't stop them. But you can use them.
Your guide
I know what it's like when the ground moves under a small firm
I've run my own small business, and I've helped many others win work. I know what it's like to be good at what you do, to be busy every day, and still feel that growth keeps waiting for next quarter.
I'm David Claxton, and I've spent more than 40 years in sales.
- Sales director. I started in an engineering apprenticeship, soon found I was better with people than with tools, and went on to sell in mobile communications, IT and call-centre technology, becoming a sales director.
- 13 years running a business automation company. We built around 35 apps for small firms, including CRM and contract management. That taught me how small businesses really sell, quote, contract and follow up, and where the time leaks away.
- Practical, judged on results. Since then I've helped small firms win work through commission sales, lead generation and tendering. Desk-based and practical.
- Published author. My book, How to get a 200% wage rise this year and every year, is about starting a business and automating how it runs. It's on Amazon and Audible. Amazon link to come Audible link to come
Today I use AI fully, but behind the scenes. It drafts, sorts and reminds. I talk to people, because people still like buying from people.
I'm based near Milton Keynes and work with practices right across the UK, by video and phone. Claxton Growth Associates works with a small team of associates, including paid-ads partners and IT partners, so you get the right specialist for each job and one person, me, who owns the result.
Intro video
Meet David in 90 seconds
The plan
Three simple steps
Book a call.
A friendly conversation about where your practice is now and where you want it to go. No hard sell.
Get your plan to stand out.
Together we name the two or three outcomes your best clients care about most, and shape them into clear offers that clients understand and want to buy. We turn your MTD contact points into planned, paid conversations.
Win better clients and deals.
We put those offers in front of the right business owners. Every enquiry gets a fast reply from a real person, and only the people who are ready to talk get booked into your diary. With my IT partners, we help you supply the systems and automation that get your clients to their result.
The journey every practice can make
Compliance
Doing what's necessary.
Essential, but becoming a commodity.
Advisory
Showing clients what to do.
Valuable, but advice on its own is now easy to find.
Transformation
Taking them there.
A plan put into action, with you seeing it through. Nobody gets this from software, and it's what clients pay well for.
AI frees your team from routine work. MTD gives you four conversations a year with every client in scope. Together, they give you the time and the reason to take clients further.
What you can count on
- You stay the accountant. I don't touch the technical work. I help you package it, sell it and follow it up. Your clients still need you.
- No cold calling. Clear offers, ads run by my partners, and fast, human follow-up. Desk-based and done properly.
- Human-led, with AI behind the scenes. AI does the admin and first drafts. When a business owner enquires, a real person gets back to them quickly.
- No tie-in for ever. I work alongside you for as long as it's useful. My aim is for you not to need me.
Let's talk about your practice
Book a friendly 30-minute video call. No hard sell, just a straight conversation about where you want your practice to go.
Who this is for (and who it isn't)
This is for you if you believe three things
- Standing still isn't safe.AI and Making Tax Digital are eating the profit in compliance work, and that isn't going to reverse.
- Advice on its own isn't enough.Anyone can get advice from AI, free and in seconds. The value now is in taking clients where they want to go.
- "Me too" isn't good enough.You want a practice that stands out, not one that sounds like every other firm.
If you hold all three, and you want a practice your best clients would never dream of leaving, I'd love to talk.
What's at stake
The cost of standing still
None of this happens overnight, and none of it is certain. But without a plan, a practice could find over the next few years that:
- compliance fees stay flat or fall, while the work behind them doesn't fall as fast;
- the best clients drift towards firms that help them do something with their numbers;
- owner-managed clients retire, sell or close, and aren't replaced at the same value;
- and, if you want to step back one day, a book of compliance fees is worth less to a buyer.
What success looks like
From busy compliance firm to standout, trusted practice
Picture your practice a few years from now.
- From "me too" to a practice prospects can tell apart, with named offers they understand and want.
- From chasing work to a diary filled with the right business owners, ready to talk.
- From squeezed compliance fees to being paid well for the results you deliver.
- From filing the numbers to taking clients where they want to go.
Your clients become richer because of you. Your practice becomes happy, wealthy and wise.
FAQ
Questions practice owners ask
You're not an accountant. Why would I work with you?
That's the point. You're the accountant. I'm the sales and marketing person you don't have. I don't touch the technical work. I help you package it, sell it and follow it up.
Is this just AI doing my marketing?
No. AI does the admin and first drafts behind the scenes. But when a business owner enquires, they want a real person to get back to them quickly. That's me.
Do you cold call on my behalf?
No. I bring the right prospects to you with clear offers, ads run by my partners, and fast, human follow-up. It's all desk-based and done properly.
We're already busy. Do we need more clients?
Maybe not more. Better ones. Fewer, higher-value clients who want to go further, so you can step back from the low-fee work.
Will I be tied in for ever?
My aim is for you not to need me. When your practice can win the right clients on its own, that's a success, not a loss.
Ready to stand out?
The change is coming either way. The only question is whether it eats your profit or feeds your growth.
If you believe standing still isn't safe, advice alone isn't enough and "me too" isn't good enough, let's talk.
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Last updated: October 2026.